Most dominant season: 82 vs 06 vs 15

What was most dominant tennis season eve

  • McEnroe '84

    Votes: 6 16.7%

  • Federer '06

    Votes: 16 44.4%

  • Djokovic '15

    Votes: 14 38.9%
  • Total voters
    36
EloQuent

EloQuent

Legend
2006.

1984 was pretty impressive too, but with only 2 slams it falls short. 2006 Federer won 12 tournaments, including 4 Masters without byes and Bo5 finals, and lost only to Nadal and Murray. That' beats out Djokovic's 2015 record imo.
 
AnOctorokForDinner

AnOctorokForDinner

Talk Tennis Guru
1984 obviously. Best match, set and game win % in the Open Era. One set away from a likely CYGS, too - AO wasn't expected to be a problem had Mac bothered to come, which he didn't at the time, but would've if he had a chance to get the Grand Slam.
 
RF-18

RF-18

Talk Tennis Guru
Well if we check titles (wich is what we should look at, what else?), it's Novak who takes the cake. No one has won that many big titles in a season.
 
AnOctorokForDinner

AnOctorokForDinner

Talk Tennis Guru
RF-18 said:
Well if we check titles (wich is what we should look at, what else?), it's Novak who takes the cake. No one has won that many big titles in a season.
Click to expand...

It's 'most dominant', not 'most accomplished'. For the latter, the Grand Slam trumps everything else, so 1969 it is.
 
K

KINGROGER

G.O.A.T.
To factor in competition, 2006. Highest win %, most titles, most finals, most wins, least defeats.

Mac only won 2 slams so I don’t think it’s as high.
 
EloQuent

EloQuent

Legend
Basically, 2006 if you factor in competition and evolution of the masters, 2015 if you look only at the shiny number 6, 84 if you're the really nostalgic kind.
 
AnOctorokForDinner

AnOctorokForDinner

Talk Tennis Guru
McEnroe lost 22 sets - 14 in the 82 matches he won and 8 in the 3 losses. McEnroe played 15 tiebreaks with a 13-2 record.
Federer lost 40 sets - 27 in the 92 matches he won and 13 in the 5 losses. Federer played 51 tiebreaks with a 37-14 record.
Djokovic lost 37 sets - 24 in the 82 matches he won and 13 in the 6 losses. Djokovic played 26 tiebreaks with a 17-9 record.

McEnroe lost 4 sets winning fewer than half games: 2-6 in DC R1 dead rubber vs Segarceanu, 2-6 in Canada SF vs Connors, 2-6 in Cincy R1 vs Amritraj, 1-6 in Stockholm SF vs Jarryd.
Federer lost 4 sets winning fewer than half games: 2-6 in MC R1 vs Djokovic, 2-6 in MC F vs Nadal, 1-6 in RG F vs Nadal, 2-6 in Canada F vs Gasquet.
Djokovic lost 2 sets winning fewer than half games: 2-6 in Cincy 3R vs Goffin, 2-6 in YEC RR vs Federer.

McEnroe dished out 9 bagels, 36 breadsticks, and 40 "6-2"s - 85 in total.
Federer delivered 19 bagels, 20 breadsticks, and 36 "6-2"s. - 75 in total.
Djokovic scored 12 bagels, 33 breadsticks, and 29 "6-2"s. - 74 in total.
 
J

JackGates

Legend
AnOctorokForDinner said:
McEnroe lost 22 sets - 14 in the 82 matches he won and 8 in the 3 losses. McEnroe played 15 tiebreaks with a 13-2 record.
Federer lost 40 sets - 27 in the 92 matches he won and 13 in the 5 losses. Federer played 51 tiebreaks with a 37-14 record.
Djokovic lost 37 sets - 24 in the 82 matches he won and 13 in the 6 losses. Djokovic played 26 tiebreaks with a 17-9 record.

McEnroe lost 4 sets winning fewer than half games: 2-6 in DC R1 dead rubber vs Segarceanu, 2-6 in Canada SF vs Connors, 2-6 in Cincy R1 vs Amritraj, 1-6 in Stockholm SF vs Jarryd.
Federer lost 4 sets winning fewer than half games: 2-6 in MC R1 vs Djokovic, 2-6 in MC F vs Nadal, 1-6 in RG F vs Nadal, 2-6 in Canada F vs Gasquet.
Djokovic lost 2 sets winning fewer than half games: 2-6 in Cincy 3R vs Goffin, 2-6 in YEC RR vs Federer.

McEnroe dished out 9 bagels, 36 breadsticks, and 40 "6-2"s - 85 in total.
Federer delivered 19 bagels, 20 breadsticks, and 36 "6-2"s. - 75 in total.
Djokovic scored 12 bagels, 33 breadsticks, and 29 "6-2"s. - 74 in total.
Click to expand...
Hey, nice work. Well, there you have it, Mac is nr.1 by far.
 
G

Gizo

Hall of Fame
All 3 years were hugely impressive, and choosing the best one is like choosing the best luxury yacht in Monaco. But I would go for Mac's 1984. His level of play and dominance of his rivals that year was just insanely good.

For what's it's worth 4 out of the 12 greatest players that begun their careers in the open era, Mac, Lendl, Connors and Wilander, were all in that their primes in 1984, so it's not like he had weak competition.

His demolition of Lendl in the Brussels final that year was just breathtaking. In my opinion it was the greatest player of the open era on carpet giving the second greatest player of the open era on carpet a free tennis lesson.
 
J

JackGates

Legend
Gizo said:
All 3 years were hugely impressive, and choosing the best one is like choosing the best luxury yacht in Monaco. But I would go for Mac's 1984. His level of play and dominance of his rivals that year was just insanely good.

For what's it's worth 4 out of the 12 greatest players that begun their careers in the open era, Mac, Lendl, Connors and Wilander, were all in that their primes in 1984, so it's not like he had weak competition.

His demolition of Lendl in the Brussels final that year was just breathtaking. In my opinion it was the greatest player of the open era on carpet giving the second greatest player of the open era on carpet a free tennis lesson.
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Why did Mac fall apart after such a great season and stopped dominating? Isn't it strange?
 
Pheasant

Pheasant

Legend
McEnroe takes this one for me. His 82-3 record is the best. But it gets much better from there. He was 14-1 vs the top 5. Every single one of his top 5 opponents that year went on to win at least 6 career slam titles. That is incredibly tough competition. Djokovic was 16-4 vs the top 5 and Federer was 8-4 vs the top 5.

McEnroe's record vs the top 5 seals it for me; especially considering the fact that every single one of his top 5 opponents is a slam-dunk Hall of Fame player.
 
True Fanerer

True Fanerer

G.O.A.T.
Red Rick said:
This thread is ridiculous cause '84 only has 2 Slams, is in an entirely different age and '06 and '15 are so close the deciding variable will solely be based on which player we like more.

Most dominant

'84>'15>'06

Greatest

'15>'06>'84

Level of play

'06>'15, can't compare 1984
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This.

Djokovic had all those top ten wins which looks great on paper compared to the other two.

Federer level in 2006 insane.

Mac - ditto
 
EloQuent

EloQuent

Legend
Pheasant said:
McEnroe takes this one for me. His 82-3 record is the best. But it gets much better from there. He was 14-1 vs the top 5. Every single one of his top 5 opponents that year went on to win at least 6 career slam titles. That is incredibly tough competition. Djokovic was 16-4 vs the top 5 and Federer was 8-4 vs the top 5.

McEnroe's record vs the top 5 seals it for me; especially considering the fact that every single one of his top 5 opponents is a slam-dunk Hall of Fame player.
Click to expand...
Top 5 doesn't impress me if you're losing to other players. And Federer wasn't. Except for Murray, who was a future #1
 
G

Gizo

Hall of Fame
JackGates said:
Why did Mac fall apart after such a great season and stopped dominating? Isn't it strange?
Click to expand...

Well a major reason was the hamstring injury that he suffered near the end of the 1984 season. It didn't heal right, and in fact he probably he probably aggravated it by not allowing himself the proper rest and rehab.

He then lost half a step and an element of his quickness, which was a hallmark of his game and often allowed him to anticipate and cut off passing shots so well.

When Lendl started to beat Mac routinely later in the decade, he publicly commentated that Mac was slower compared to his prime years and that his 2nd serve had declined (he made changes to his service motion).

Plus he was physically and mentally burnt out. The press and media were hounding him everywhere he went, hiding in his bins to get a picture of him and Tatum, trying every trick in the book to provoke an angry reaction out of him etc. And like Borg, Lendl etc, he was playing in a truck load of unofficial invitational events and exos across the globe on top of his 'official' activity (a lot of invitational events back then like Antwerp, Chicago etc were a very big deal). That was a lot of wear and tear to deal with.

He still won a lot of titles in 1985, but he had no answer to the power and serve of Curren at Wimbledon (he was very downbeat after that defeat). During the summer hard court season he looked back to his best and his 1984 form, thrashing Lendl twice in Stratton Mountain and Montreal. He went into the USO and then the final itself against Lendl as the heavy favourite, and opened up a 5-2 lead and had a had set point. But Lendl stayed calm and positive to fight back and take that 1st set, then grew in confidence and began serving, passing and volleying very well. It was the huge turning point of their rivalry and the landscape of men's tennis.
 
King No1e

King No1e

G.O.A.T.
mike danny said:
Had probably the weakest competition among all dominant seasons.
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Who did McEnroe have? Lendl, who managed to displace Mac #1 without even winning a Slam? Connors, who was over 30 and way past his prime? Not taking anything away from them, but it's not exactly brutal competition, especially compared to Djokovic's 2011 or Wilander's 1988
 
P

Pouet156

Rookie
EloQuent said:
what depth exactly? Nadal was a shell. the rest of the field are the lost gen
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Dont forget in biggest competition that year : 34 years old Fed ...

The thing about 2006 is that it was followed by some consistency, and was not some kind of swan song.

And was also the end of a 3 year run of un paralleled performance I think ( 247 - 15 ; 34 titles out of 39 finals, 8 Slams, 2 masters cup, 11 M1000 )

On a one year period, it might not be the most awesome, but taken in context, i think it is ...
 
FedBeckRas

FedBeckRas

Rookie
EloQuent said:
what depth exactly? Nadal was a shell. the rest of the field are the lost gen
Click to expand...
The lost gen was a result of Big 4 dominance. Djokovic dominance put Nadal in that shell.
The top 100 in 2105 were Seriously Good players. No easy rounds, Djokovic just made it look easy.
 
EloQuent

EloQuent

Legend
FedBeckRas said:
The lost gen was a result of Big 4 dominance. Djokovic dominance put Nadal in that shell.
The top 100 in 2105 were Seriously Good players. No easy rounds, Djokovic just made it look easy.
Click to expand...
Nadal was losing to other players too, his 15-16 era was very obviously a much lower level than 2006
 
D

Deleted member 733170

Guest
JackGates said:
Why did Mac fall apart after such a great season and stopped dominating? Isn't it strange?
Click to expand...

I put the reason down to a rapid change in racket technology and the consequent emergence of the power game of the Lendls and Beckers.
 
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